According to the latest First Time Buyer Monitor from LSL Property Services, more than half believe they would make a purchase within the next five years. 

David Brown, commercial director of LSL Property Services, said: “There’s clearly underlying demand for homeownership, but the size of the gap between those who’d like to buy and those who actually can reflects the frustration that thousands of potential buyers.

Despite higher average loan-to-value mortgages in August, prospective first-time buyers still see saving for a deposit as the biggest obstacle to buying.

47% of those looking to buy are not able to because they cannot put together a big enough deposit, up from 41% three months ago.

14% of buyers blamed high transaction costs, down from 15% in May. One in twenty stated the prospect of falling house prices concerned them.

Brown continued: “The size of the average deposit may have dipped in August, but tenants are still baulking at the prospect of saving over £26,000 at a time when rents and the cost of living are rising at a greater rate than salaries.

“With higher transaction costs on the back of the re-instated stamp-duty tax earlier in the year, the initial cost of purchasing a home is still a bridge too far for the vast majority of would-be buyers.”

This comes as a recent report by Legal & General comparing the economic and social shift between age 35s now and those aged 35 in the 70’s, highlighting that despite economic change and turbulence in 2012, the UK remains a nation of wannabe homeowners like their parents.

Roger Harding, head of policy, research and public affairs at Shelter, said: “This is yet another example of how the younger generation are seeing their housing aspirations slip away from them.

“Many who are desperate to get on the housing ladder but cannot even afford to rent are putting their lives on hold, with more than a fifth of 18 – 34 year olds still living at home with their parents and many couples delaying having children.

“We can no longer ignore the unacceptable impact our housing crisis is having on all aspects of people’s lives. The government needs to show this generation they will meet them halfway when it comes to finding a place to call home.”